![]() Compared with the cost of producing a 10-episode scripted series, giving a comedian a few extra hours to play around within (and occasionally outside) a pre-existing format is the kind of small-scale tinkering that Netflix can and should be benefiting from. ![]() If the traditional standup model is to put you in a comedy club or an arena, “Repertoire” is the closest that Netflix audiences will get to going to something like Edinburgh Fringe, dropping in on something that isn’t funny or noteworthy solely because of the formal liberties it’s taking, but that distinct framing certainly makes it easier to single it out.Īnd it also makes for an interesting tryout of sorts to see if a creator’s voice can translate into something more. It’s not just the four-episode arc that takes a new approach, it’s the small-scale pieces that make them up, too. The best part of these is that like any good twist, the flipped punchlines would still work even if the setup played out normally. Some of Acaster’s best jokes come from a “Jeopardy!”-style inversion, putting the answer before the question. But those are the outliers of a tightly controlled collection built on the kind of laughs that come from catching an audience off-guard rather than guiding them right up to a punchline. A riff on “The Wire” and an extended stretch of “Represent” about him being on a jury are a few cases of diminishing returns the longer they go on. Like nearly all sketch shows, there are some hits and misses. It’s his stomping/stylophone/praying mantis/geometric drawing methods that make fuel for the journey. This isn’t an enterprise that happens just because someone’s got four hours of wacky observations to share. The commitment it takes for something like “Kettering Town” - trust us, you’ll remember it when you see it - is the kind of curveball that makes a four-episode investment worth it. He holds back a handful of fiery rants and bigger emotional swells for times when these specials need a little extra ounce of momentum. You can’t hold the stage without a very specific kind of physicality, one that Acaster saves for very special occasions. “James Acaster: Repertoire” Silviu Nutu Vegan Joy It’s not mandatory that all of these be watched in one go, but like its scripted series’ counterparts, there’s a reward for those who can take note of some early throwaway gags. The different shades of backdrops behind Acaster are more than just a simple visual way to distinguish between the four - the green, red, and yellow signal shades within Acaster’s greater toolbox, ones that he literally combines behind him in “Recap,” the clear standout from these four. The individual segments (“Recognise,” “Represent,” “Reset,” and “Recap,” all recorded at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill) are labeled and presented as episodes, not a coincidence for a set of performances that have more connective tissue than you might expect. Acaster has emerged from the comedy lab and he is here to present the findings of his studies. This is closer to a theater piece, a solo “Oh Hello” minus the outsized characters and with an extra “u” in humor. Even the crowd work seems preordained, something that Acaster winks at. The timing of pauses, the music cues, and some basic handcrafted props are all finely calibrated. At one point, he diagrams a nonsense phrase with an audience member like he’s in a funny Noam Chomsky lecture.Īside from that bit of interaction, there’s not a lot of room in “Repertoire” for spontaneity. Acaster uses the last word in “Pret a Manger” as a verb and quizzes listeners why we haven’t found an adequate term for those photo-op cutouts you can poke your head through. He delights in the jokes that deal with what English doesn’t have the capacity to express and the weird ways that repurposing certain phrases can be a joke unto themselves. With some of the usual goofy observations you’d find from an hourlong set, Acaster wades through some linguistic curiosities, British and otherwise. The Secret to Portraying Kate Middleton? It’s All About Confidenceĭespite the unconventional collection approach, “Repertoire” still has some of the rhythms of standup that audiences might be looking for.
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